


Breaking Free

by Trixy_BuenaSuerte



Series: Preludes, Prologues, and Prefaces that Might One Day be More [4]
Category: Original Work
Genre: Drabble, Gen, Mental Health Issues
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-02-23
Updated: 2015-02-23
Packaged: 2018-03-14 18:29:34
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 898
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3421082
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Trixy_BuenaSuerte/pseuds/Trixy_BuenaSuerte
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It would forever be her fault, she knew this so she shouldered the weight on her own. She hid behind a façade of happiness even as they broke her down again and again because she knew, one day ,she would stand on her own. There's no way this was all she wrote, there had to be more out there, somewhere. She just has to go looking for own her Happily Ever After.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Breaking Free

**Preface**

Everything was bleak, dreary, dark. The world was nothing but various shades of grey. Or at least to her they were and even though she knew the numbers on her digital clock were a nice bright blue, the color didn't register in her mind. No color did anymore because it didn't matter.

She willed the clock to move faster but it never did so she kept eyeing it. Darkness was her only companion as she waited and she almost basked in it as it swallowed the entirety of her room and belongings. A sliver of light peeked in from under her door but it did nothing to dispel the darkness. Her eyes fluttered close without her permission and she let them because it made no difference in the pitch black of her room.

Noise slipped in with the light and the sound of laughter tugged at her heart but, like with the colors, it didn't fully register in her mind. It just made her feel weird, awkward, left out as she lay sprawled on her bed. She could hear the sound of a chair scraping against tile and she knew that the ones outside were eating. Once again the odd tug came and small webs of betrayal threatened to wrap around her.

Her eyes snapped open the second the clock turned to nine thirty and she moved stiffly off the bed. Her muscles were sore from not using them and her back ached for sitting too much, still she trudge on through the now familiar pain. It was just another constant in her never-changing life. Even in the pitch black she didn't fumble as she grabbed her towel and walked to her door.

The knob felt cold against her clammy palm as she tugged the door open. The bright light of the hall stung her eyes as it swallowed her but she didn't blink as she stepped out and walked to the restroom. All became quiet in the kitchen and she could practically taste the guilt in the air as the others now realized she was awake and no one had bothered to save her a bite to eat. Not that it mattered.

She rarely ate.

At least with them.

_"Valérie."_

Footsteps came in her direction and she entertained the notation of running for the restroom as a voice called out her name. She froze in her steps as soon as her name was spoken because it so rarely was or at least in this household it was. It was shocking to hear it being said at all by the person who had said it as she turned slowly to face the speaker.

The person stood so much shorter than Valérie with curly brown hair that framed her face and hung just past her shoulder. Muddy brown eyes stared up at Valérie and she stared right back. A tense silence fell but Valérie didn't let it bother her as she waited to see why she was being addressed. Maybe that was her first mistake, maybe should she have just rushed into the restroom as if she hadn't heard the other call her name because before she knew it those muddy brown eyes turned hard and cold.

_"Won't you join us, Valérie?"_

Bile rose to the back of her throat as the words seemed to cut at her. There was no food left, there never was when she woke which was one of the many reasons she rarely ate here. She shook her head in response and tried her hardest to keep her face void of any emotion as those cold eyes scrutinized her. They were looking for anything they could use to cause damage.

_"Why won't you ever eat with us you ungrateful brat!"_

The shout seemed to resonate off the walls, bouncing back at her. She flinched away from it and took a step back just as she saw faces peer around the corner at them. She cowered back even more as the other advanced as she retreated and before she knew it she was pressed against the door at the end of the hall as more shouts resonated around her. She wanted to hide, to get away from the noise but the shouts paralyzed her.

_"You good for nothing, bitch. All you ever do is sleep. What about me? Your mother?  Or the rest of your family? Why don't you ever spend time with us."_

Suddenly the noise died down and she opened her eyes—not having realized when she had closed them—to find herself alone. Laughter came from the kitchen and once again she heard the sound of a chair scrapping against the tiled floor. The sound of silverware scrapping plates also joined the noise and Valérie continued to stare at the empty spot in front of her.

Slowly she turned to the door she had been pressing against and opened it. She stepped into the room without any thoughts of turning on the lights. Instead she headed straight to the urn that sat on top of the dresser. Dust coated every piece of furniture in the room but Valérie ignored it as she knelt in front of the white and pink urn and bowed her head. The words slipped out on their own, without any real thought on her part, and Valérie couldn't really bring herself to mean them.

"I'm sorry mom."


End file.
